Lady Belles
by littleemilyfitch
Summary: Naomi is a broke and seemingly useless "street artist" on the side of a job at a burger joint. When she's taken in by Officer Karen McClair yet again, she meets a group of girls who could just bring about the turning point for her life. Just one question is unanswered. Is she capable of being part of a heist? My first fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter 1: Prologue

 **Naomi**

 _I stare down at the cuffs around my wrists. I can't believe I haven't repeatedly bashed my head on the table yet. Everything is fucked, everything. They didn't come back for me. I hear the sound that comes from the door when the hinges haven't been oiled for sixty years, and it makes me wince. Not a good way to come from the trance I was in. Cunting bastards._

 _"Mrs. Campbell." I hear the voice, and goddamn, I already hate it again._

 _"It's Ms. Campbell dickhead." I answer the dickhead, and he quickly replied by sitting down in front of me at this cold, metal desk._

 _"Detective Fred McClair." He introduces, though I already know his name. He would be handsome if he didn't remind me of how fucked I am at the moment._

 _"Oh, the ass that's always interrupting my shows to warn us of the 'Lady Belles'." I say, clear shade in my voice as my eyes again stare at my cuffs. God they're tight._

 _"Maybe, but you won't have to worry about that much longer, what with one of them in jail and all." He replies, an utterly disgusting smirk on his face. "I'm going to skip all this nonsense right now, here's the truth, you're going to spend the rest of your life in a jail cell. That is unless you tell me of the whereabouts of the rest of your partners. I would ask for all three of them, but we all know there's more than that, now don't we?"_

 _He's still grinning. Fucks sakes he thinks I'm the sell-out, of all the crew. Frankly, I was in jail once before. I think I did pretty well._

 _"Fuck you." I say bluntly. I'm pretty good at being blunt._

 _"That's funny... alright then, tell you what." He begins to say, looking like he's had some groundbreaking idea. "You are going to spend the rest of your years in prison, however, I can make sure it's not Roundview prison." That's even worse than the last offer for fucks sakes._

 _"Fuck you-"_

 _"Wait, wait." He holds up his hand for a couple moments. "For this, you don't have to tell me where they are. All you have to do is tell me everything. Start from the beginning." He raises his brow expectantly, and you know what? Fuck it._

 _"Alright, so there's this big red ball of swirling gases and materials and then suddenly, BOOM, the universe is made. After a couple billions of years-"_

 _"Start from when the Lady Belles was formed, yeah?" He says after cutting me off. Shit, I was having so much fun trying to remember college biology._

 _I roll my eyes before taking a deep breath, trying to remember how the fuck it started..._

"What the fuck? What makes you think that street art was me?!" I yell as I am again hoisted through a police station corridor towards the group cell. Strange how I still try to talk myself out of things.

"You tagged it 'Get to know me' like every other one of your pieces, of shit." The female cop pushing me tells me.

"I'm starting to think you're just an outright misogynist." I joke now as I still struggle with her grip on my arms. God she's strong. We kind've know each other now, though she only knows my name.

The cell door opens and I'm pushed in. "Nother' one Karen?" A brunette from inside the cell asks. She sitting on a bench, and I take a look at her eyes. They're icy, it looks like she's just watching over things.

"How do you even know her name Effy?" I hear. I'm kind've like a deer in headlights at the moment. There aren't any males in the cell, which is very surprising to me. I glance around the room, seeing what seems to be Effy grinning and still sitting at the bench in the middle of the room, staring at me for some reason.

As I take a look to my left, I see the girl who had just asked the question. She's a redhead, wearing high herls and probably a matching expensive top. She looks annoyed, probably because of the whole jail cell situation.

"So you tag walls, do you?" Effy asks, while I'm still stood there, frozen. I pause while I think of an answer.

"Why would telling you be a good idea?" I ask, giving my usual disgusted look. I'm not very fond of questions.

"Well, because me, Katie, and-"

"'Get to know me' has to be one of the dumbest tags I've ever heard." I hear from my right. I hadn't noticed her before. She looks like she just sat up from a long nap, her red hair a little messy. Did I also mention that she looks nearly identical to the other redhead. Yet... she looks different. Different enough to tell the difference. As I watch her, my heart is beating considerably faster. I'm nervous... for some odd reason. I wonder why I didn't have this same reaction with her twin. I quickly try to make up a response.

"It doesn't matter what you th-"

"Emily, fix your fucking hair, you're making us both look bad." I'm cut off by who I now know as Katie. Why's everyone so rude? Just let people finish their sentences. Maybe it's a twin thing.

Despite the rudeness, Emily begins to fix her hair. I look at the slightly less well-dressed redhead. There's something about her.

"Oh shush Katie, aren't you just angry because you fucked up the shoplift?" Effy says, always in a calm tone, though she is still looking at me. Maybe her eyes show curiosity? I don't know, I can't really decipher them.

"I didn't fuck it up, you said jewelry!"

"You grabbed watches Katie. Jewelry has jewels."

"But-"

"They found you out easily because of the extra weight in metal those things have. In short, do what I say next time, yeah? Emsy was doing fine, had about $2,000 before they linked us to you." That makes Katie shit up. I turn my gaze back to Emily, who has tied her hair into a loose bun and was staring at me. She quickly looks away again after we lock eyes. I can't really question why she was staring any more than I can question why Effy was staring. "That's fine though Katie, you learned from it, and now we have our fourth member. We can do better." Effy states, and in still standing there, probably looking like an idiot. Katie gives me a considerably nasty look.

"Her?! You've got to be kidding Effy, she's wearing a floral jacket for christ's sake..." I'm starting to think Katie cares too much about clothing. I'm also starting to wonder what the fuck she's saying about me.

"Member? Member of what? You're all in jail. Don't think I want a part in this." I say, noticing Emily staring again. Though I guess everyone is now.

"Oh, but you do." Effy says with a smile. "It's probably a better source of income than spending money on all those paint cans." I look down at her on the bench, giving her my worst fake smile and holding a middle finger to her face. Strangely, that finger is covered in light blue spray-paint.

I can see Emily smiling before looking back down at her shoes out of the corner of my eye. She's being too quiet, especially after insulting my catch phrase/tag. My gaze turns to Emily as well as my upturned middle-finger. "'Get to know me' goes with my name, okay? I like it, not changing it."

"Your name's Naomi then?" Emily asks, somehow decoding it. Okay, maybe it's not that good of a tag if _anyone_ can figure out the person behind it. She glances at me before looking back down at her shoes, a small smirk on her face.

And then I'm blushing, putting my hand down. She kind've defeated me there. I again look at Effy.

"What the fuck is the hu-bub then? If you don't mind me asking?" Effy's grin turns into a toothy smile. She raises her eyebrows suggestively as she speaks.

"We're going to rob a bank."


	2. Chapter 2: Jump In

Chapter 2: Jump In

 **Naomi**

"You guys are absolutely fucking insane." I say, wondering why I'm even still walking with them. 'Someone' bailed us out. Us _all_ out. Even me. I didn't even want to think about how they knew to bail me out with this group of crazies.

"Well don't look at me! Effy's the mental one." Katie exclaims, so I guess I can't really say they're all crazy. Effy is leading us down the sidewalk, and Katie's walking next to me and has been trying to convince me that she doesn't agree with what Effy had said. I mean, people don't get away with robbing banks, it just doesn't happen. Well, usually.

I'm not exactly sure why Katie is suddenly so self-conscious about her mental health. She didn't seem to care what I thought before. I look over my shoulder to glance at Emily, who is walking with her arms crossed behind all of us. She looks up from the ground at my eyes just as I turn my gaze back to Effy in front of me.

"I mean, a bank Effy? You don't even know me." I say as Effy looks over her shoulder with a smile. "I have to 'get to know' you don't I? It says so on your beautiful art." She replies calmly. I blush. It's quite strange how calm she seems to be at all times.

I cover my embarrassment with another sarcastic comment. "Right, cause I want to 'get to know' you huh?"

Effy shrugs it off and looks ahead. "We're going dancing, even though Katie thinks you look like shit."

I look down at myself. It's kind've hard to argue, my blonde hair was probably in shambles and I was still wearing this floral jacket. "This jacket is warm, yeah? Piss off." I honestly don't feel like being the butt of the joke right now.

No one seems to be paying attention to me now though, they're all looking ahead at something. I turn my gaze back ahead to see red flashing light coming from an open door, and a magnificently gigantic line up to it. I don't really know if I'm up for this, but before I know it Katie is grabbing my jacket and pulling it off of me. It is actually cold, I'm at least glad I washed the spray-paint off of my hands from before.

"Katie, she can wear it if she wants to." That's the second thing I've heard Emily say ever. At least she's not making fun of me now. Her voice doesn't have the slight lisp Katie's does and is a little more raspy. It kind've sounds cool to me.

"Yeah yeah. Whatever, it's hot in there anyway. You're getting yourself a boy tonight Naoms cause you look like you haven't gotten any... in a while... no offense." Katie says, and yes offense. While that may be just a little true it is rude.

I look back at Emily again, seeing her giving me a sympathetic look. I turn my gaze back forward to see Effy chatting up the guard. She must've fluttered her eyelashes and blew kisses because she's turned back to us with a smile. She steps over to us, pulling a small plastic bag from her shirt. She opens it. "Take one each, yeah?" I immediately grab a tab but wonder exactly why. I don't even know exactly what drug it is.

"What is it?" Katie asks, apparently being more careful than me.

"MDMA" Effy answers, still having that weird grin on her face. I'm pretty sure she already took one. Her eyes still make her look 'all-knowing' though.

Emily moves between me and Katie, grabbing one of the tabs from the bag. She glances at me again. I try a second attempt at talking directly to her.

"Bottoms up?" I ask, raising my eyebrows expectantly. Emily grins just slightly. I have been a little down lately. Maybe this wouldn't hurt. I watch Katie swallow her tab before closing my eyes and popping mine in my mouth. I look at Emily again, and I don't see the pill in her hand so I assume she took it.

"Where'd you get these?" I ask. Effy then motions towards the guard.

"Really?" Katie's asks.

"What? He's one of my brother's friends, Maxxie."

I shrug it off. The problem with MDMA is it takes about half an hour for you to get high. One of the reasons I prefer cannabis. 'Maxxie' let's us inside the club, and the music is almost overstimulating to my ears. They've got it _very_ loud in here. As the four of us walk through the hallway and finally see the main dance floor, I see Effy is definitely in a better mood. Was she in a bad mood before even? I can't ever tell.

Effy's in the crowd before any of the rest of us, and in yet again standing there like a deer in headlights. I guess Katie was right for taking my jacket to the coat-girl. It's almost too hot in here.

"I need a drink." I hear from Emily, seeing Katie pass me to join Effy on the dance floor. I'm beginning to doubt Katie's confidence that I would find a suitable mate here. I suddenly notice Emily has pulled on my hand. "Hello? We're getting drinks." She's very insistent.

I follow along to the bar, and Emily orders two margaritas. I'm surprised such a quiet girl was able to order over the music. "Margaritas, really?" I ask, looking over the spiral staircase near the edge of the dance floor. "I mean, we already popped an MDMA. I don't really know if we need margaritas."

Emily shrugs. I actually want her to answer me though, with words. Thankfully she does. "I don't care much." She says, glancing at my eyes again. Is she hiding something? Her lips move to the straw of the margarita and mine quickly do the same. This is about the time where the MDMA kicks in.

In short, I'm slowly feeling more confident. Also, I can see the music, which is a little scary at first until you get used to it. I'm pretty sure I'm smiling too. Emily gives me a small grin, though she doesn't seem nearly as happy as she takes more drinks of her alcohol.

"What's wrong. Life hard for the twin of a bitch? People have got to mistaking lay throw punches at you sometimes." I joke, laughing at my own joke. She doesn't laugh though, just grins a little more.

"Fix your hair." She mumbles, her hand moving over what apparently was a part of my hair sticking out.

"You tryna sound like her?" I ask innocently.

"Far from it..." Her hand runs down a strand of my hair before she seems to realize something and pulls her hand away.

I laugh. "Cheer up Emsy, holy fuck, ecstasy isn't doing shit for you!" The bass of the song is kind've forcing me to the dance floor, and I don't want to go alone so I quickly grab Emily's arm, pulling her out with me into the crowd.

And now I'm dancing, using Emily to keep me up and probably looking fucking mental while I try some movements of my hips I've never done before. The thing is, I don't care, it feels good. I think I'm deep into the high by now.

Emily yells something over the blaring music, but I don't really understand her. Everything is a blur now, all of the crowd around me is dancing together. Emily's red hair is suddenly very pretty to me under all of the strange colors of the flashing lights. I can still tell Emily is now dancing, seeming to giggle every couple of seconds. She also sweating a little bit, and I'm sure it looks so hot to the guys.

My hands move down her sides to her waist and her hands are over her head. Her eyes are closed and I can just see the shine of the lights off of her skin. Emily opens her eyes just slightly, smiling at me, and I smile back. I can feel the vibration of the bass under my feet and close my eyes, my hands clenching into Emily's hips.

A pair of arms move around my neck, and I can't help shivering. Everything feels so amazing, even small touches. I feel a pair of soft lips suddenly hit my neck and I know goosebumps are forming on my skin. In breathing faster and I clench my fingers harder into Emily's hips. Then, the lips move against mine. All I'm thinking about is how soft they are, and I can't help but push back against them. I lean my head and put my arms around Emily's lower back, pulling her against me. My tongue moves from my mouth to request access to the other tongue through the kiss.

I'm quickly given access, and now the music is just background. I pressing my lips harder and wrestling my tongue with the other one, and I'm actually in heaven for a second. That's when I feel another hand pushing my stomach and my lips are separated from Emily's.

I don't even know if I was really thinking of those lips as Emily's. I let go of her waist and then I see Katie's angry face. I can still barely make out what anyone is saying through the high and the song, but somewhere I hear 'total lezzer bitch'. It doesn't even phase me. I just begin to dance again.

After what only seems like a couple of minutes I am pulled out of my euphoria by a hand gripping mine. I open my eyes, looking ahead of me to see it's Effy pulling me. I'm just going with it really. Honestly I can't be bothered with anything she's saying until I can actually hear it.

I hear small snippets of dialogue as we walk outside onto the sidewalk. Something like 'been three hours' and 'looking for ages'. I'm just pulled along. My mouth is also moving on its own. I'm apparently talking to Effy but I still don't know what I'm saying. Have you ever noticed how pretty headlights are? I watch them as they pass by on the road, still being dragged by my hand.

I have no clue how long we were walking for, but we are back at someone's house. Possibly Effy's? I did see her take out a key, so it's got to be. Most of what Effy says is still barely readable for me. I'm placed sitting on a counter, and Effy has begun to check over me. Maybe she's checking for bruises or something?

"Katie's mad..." I hear, and it echoes in my head slightly.

"About what?" I ask. I guess I'm finally able to tell what I'm saying. Everything's still all hazy though. I'm struggling to listen.

"Your little outburst on her sister? She's a little homophobic you know." I don't remember Effy grabbing ice from the fridge, but now I feel a coldness on my leg. She's standing in front of me and still looking over my leg while I just sit there, probably looking bonkers.

I just sigh for a moment before closing my eyes. It takes too much brain power to try to remember what the fuck I did. I shiver at the feeling of the ice pack.

Suddenly, I'm floating. No, not floating... someone is carrying me. I open my eyes slightly, though I feel supremely tired. Yep, it's Effy. Maybe this is her way of bribing me to become part of her 'heist'.

I smile again. "Effy, you're mental, you know that?" I say, closing my eyes again.

"Maybe a little." She replies quietly, setting me down on a soft surface. I grab a slightly cold pillow next to me and pull it to my chest, tightening my arms around it. I then hear a sigh from Effy before I feel the other side of the bed move a little.

My brain begins to shut off, even though it is mostly shut off already. Drugs tend to do that. It seems like it's only been a few seconds of me in comfortable bliss before I'm pulled into sleep by gentle hands. You can't really brace yourself for the dreams after you take MDMA, can you?


	3. Chapter 3: After The Call

Chapter 3: After The Call

 **Effy**

I fucked it up. I always fuck things up. I'm starting to think that subconsciously I'm doing it on purpose.

I'm now watching Naomi sleeping. Thankfully she doesn't snore. I'm starting to wonder if this was the first time she took MDMA. I possibly take it too much though. I should probably ease up a bit on it.

Naomi has potential for us. For what I'm trying to do that is. And what I'm trying to do is, live. I'm a fairly good leader, but what does that get you when you dropped your grades lower and lower every day of college. That's why I took up this whole 'crime' thing. It works. It's not stable income per say, but it's helping me keep the house.

I'm starting to think I'm using the house as an excuse though. As a result I'm fucking everyone up around me. I'm bringing a random girl I met in a jail cell into a fucking _bank heist_ for christ's sakes.

The moon is shining onto Naomi's face, and despite the fact that she looks tired as hell, she looks good. I don't know why Katie was being so mean to her, but then again that is just her, isn't it?

 _I'm not going to sleep._ That's my realization after an hour of staring at different points in my room. Naomi's breathing is a relaxing noise, but it's not enough. At that, I hear a knock on my door.

After making my hair look okay, I walk down the stairs to the front door. I wonder who would possibly come here this late and look through the peak.

Katie. Katie's here and she doesn't have Emily with her. That usually isn't a good sign. I take a deep breath and open it anyway, watching her put on her fake smile. She always has that at the ready, but I can see right through it.

"Effy. Nice to..." I guess she remembered how late it was. "Um... I brought candy!" She holds up a package of bite-sized chocolates. She's smiling but there is a pleading look in her eyes.

I motion for her to come in, even though that type of chocolate isn't exactly my favorite. "Be quiet, okay? Naomi's sleeping upstairs." Katie immediately has an upset look on her face, though I don't know which reason she is upset. She can't just keep coming here in the middle of the night every time she needs to get rid of some urges.

"Don't give me that look. Take a seat at the table and I'll get some tea for us, okay?" I say.

By the time we both have tea in front of us and I'm sitting across from her, Katie looks anxious. I always thought it was strange how much she would freshen up. After a full night of partying she looked like she wasn't tired at all and smelled of roses.

"I didn't mean to be so angry with Naomi it's just..." Katie looks at the table so she can fix the mask she always seems to wear into conversations. "Emily... Emily doesn't need this... this affliction. I'm supposed to protect her, it would be too much for her..."

I stare at her. I don't think she realizes how hypocritical she is a lot of the time. "Can you listen to yourself? Please? You just called it an affliction."

Katie falters, looking down at the table again. I take a drink of the considerably awful tea I had just made.

"Effy... I don't know, this is all too confusing, okay?" I can't even believe her. She's like two different people. But that's the problem with me. Effy Stonem doesn't get angry, she's not supposed to. She's the calm one. It's absolutely dreadful sometimes. I take another deep breath, grabbing the small bag of chocolates she had brought.

"So, Katie Fitch. What were you actually planning on doing when you came here?" I ask, showing her the label of the candy. "Before you knew Naomi was staying here. What was your plan, hm?"

I couldn't see Katie's eyes anymore. She was pointing her gaze down at her high heels now.

"Are you going to answer? Or does Katie Fitch just constantly play a game of hide n' seek with hersel-"

"Shut up okay!" Katie said, her voice shaky. You know what? I think I do fuck things up for everyone. I probably pushed her a little too far there. I'm supposed to be nice to her. I brought her into all of this stealing business. She was probably going to have a nice husband and family, live in wealth, vacation everywhere before I came into the picture. Sure, she wouldn't have been happy, but that's what she wanted. She wants that cookie-cutter princess life. I can't really tell if I'm in the wrong or the right.

Katie stands, and I notice her hands are trembling. "I... I have to go..." She says, grabbing her coat from the back of the chair. I don't attempt to stop her. I don't think she wants me to. That doesn't stop me from feeling worse about it. I take another deep breath as I hear the front door slam shut. I stare at the bag of chocolates. I can't eat these now. It's not really fair for me to.

I stand and leave the tea at the table. Even though I'm the only one living in this house, I act like someone else will clean it up. I finally yawn and start walking up the stairs, and then I hear whimpers from the bedroom. I speed my pace, feeling even worse about everything.

When I walk in silently, I see Naomi is crying into her pillow. She whimpers again, and that makes me wince. I don't know why she's crying, but I'm not one to just ask about things I don't understand. I try to understand things I don't understand. I step quietly over to the bed. She hasn't seen me yet because her eyes are closed through her tears. I lay next to her seeing her eyes open for a split second before I put my arms around her.

My fingers run along her back as I try my best at being comforting. "Shh..." I whisper into her ear, and her eyes close again. She was embarrassed by it all, I can tell by the look I got at her eyes.

I gently nuzzle her cheek with my own. Maybe it was the drug dreams, or something like that, but she is really shaken up. "I said shh..." I whisper again, and I notice her try at a chuckle completely fails as she cries into my shoulder. After some time I can finally feel her relaxing again in my arms, and she's finally starting to go back to sleep. I watch the moon out the window as I feel her breathing settle. She's comfortable now, able to sleep.

I hope at least some good comes from tonight. Maybe I don't fuck everything up.


	4. Chapter 4: Smalltown

Chapter 4: Smalltown

 **Naomi**

I feel like shit, which is normal, considering. I haven't even opened my eyes yet but I can feel someone's arms around me. Though it's starting to come back to me. I don't even need to open my eyes to know it's Effy. I remember I was crying, I think it was the middle of the night.

I don't really know why I was crying, maybe it's that I was suddenly in some strange house, or the blurry memories of a few hours before. I had a strange dream. It was mostly about Emily. I was apparently in college again, and for some reason I really hated Emily. That's strange because I only just met Emily yesterday. I'd be surprised if the Emily in my dream even looked like the Emily in real life.

I don't hate her. In fact, I'm pretty sure she snogged me yesterday. I think we can both blame that on the MDMA.

I can't seem to muster up the strength to even open my eyes. Everything just feels... sad. Strange how some mornings you can just wonder if anything matters at all. I can name five people in the whole world that would actually care if I disappeared. I don't think I'm having much of an impact.

Effy is warm, and that's helping, though her breathing is a little shaky. I finally get my eyes to open, and now I can look up to see Effy's eyes are closed. Her brow is furrowed, and I can see her eyes are rapidly moving under her eyelids. I think she's having a nightmare.

I move my hand from my side to gently shake Effy's shoulder, and her eyes quickly open. She's a little puzzled at first. It's hard not to be confused when you first wake up. Effy's eyes then move back to only showing hazy picture of her feelings.

"Morning..." I say, and I must be showing my sadness at the moment because she moves her hand to push a strand of hair behind my ear. Gosh, people are actually going to think I'm gay. I snogged a girl and I'm cuddling with one now.

Fuck it, no one's watching anyway. One slip-up doesn't make you gay. I lean my head on Effy's arm.

"We're robbing a convenience store tomorrow..." Effy says. It sounds like she's already talked this over with the twins. Guess that's a sign to stop cuddling.

"Fucks sake Effy, you really think I'm gonna join you on your conquest? I have a job. A lousy one, but at least it's a job." I answer.

"Do you have a job? Doesn't seem like you do on account that it's a week day."

I think and then immediately feel dread wash over me. Shit. I'm scared to look at the clock. After some second-guessing, I finally muster the courage to turn my gaze to the digital alarm clock on the dresser.

 _9:47_

This means I'm basically fucked. I'm supposed to be there at nine, and since my boss is a bitch I'm probably not going to have a very good day. I groan. "Shit Effy, I have to go." I say, and I notice her hand is gripping my arm. I think she wants me to stay, but she's able to cover that with her empty gaze. She lets go of my arm.

"You're struggling with cash, aren't you? If you just take up my offer you won't have to worry..." Effy states, though I think she knows I'm not mental. I grab my floral jacket from the ground and try fixing my hair in the vertical mirror she has set up next to her bed. I look about as good as you can look after a night of sweaty partying and crying that smears your make-up.

"Just... call before midnight tomorrow if you change you mind..." Effy's still trying to get me to join her 'gang'. I shake my head slightly and move my eyes to look at hers.

Even though our eye color is nearly the same, I think our eyes are so much more... different. Mine show things, while hers perfectly conceal. It makes her look like she's so much more intelligent, and that might even be true. I can feel a bruise on my leg and I distinctly remember Effy putting ice on it.

"Thank you for... for finding me at the party, yeah? You didn't need to do that, or even bring me here..." I feel bad now as I say this. I feel like she wasn't just helping because she wants me to help her rob a place. She was sincere.

"Katie can be a bit of a bitch when she wants to be. Don't dwell on what she said, she can't be blamed for it..." Effy says. I can barely remember what Katie said, but I'm still wondering why Effy's defending her.

"Ecstasy is a hell of a drug, innit?" I answer with a small smile before I turn around. I walk slowly down Effy's stairs, pulling my mobile from my pocket. I think on calling a cab, but I freeze right outside Effy's door after seeing Emily's contact in my phone. I want to call her, maybe forgive her for kissing me. She's probably pretty self-conscious about it, and I can't imagine what Katie is saying to her.

I sigh. Might as well walk, I'm already late anyway. I deserve a shower, even if the water is cold in my flat. My walk is fairly easy once I figure out where I am. My flat isn't very far from Effy's house. Once I've walked up the creaky and probably-not-up-to-code stairs I can clearly see the note taped to my door.

 _You barely even own this place now, pay your rent._

 _\- Thomas_

My landlord isn't really a bad guy. He just doesn't like bullshit. He's nice to me because I think he knows my situation. I saw him where I worked once. He probably shouldn't let me get away with paying less and less of my stacking rent, but I think he feels bad about me.

I step into my flat after unlocking it, and for some reason there's something calm about the sound of the floorboards. It's familiar. The sun is showing through the window, and the light succeeds in showing me how dusty everything is. I take a couple more deep breaths before looking at the clock. 10:10. I grab the discarded "Fitch Diner" uniform off the ground. I think Jenna really needs to veer away from this yellow color she has us wearing.

After a very cold shower and a granola bar, I'm finally walking to the fast food restaurant Jenna Fitch has named a diner. Diners must be turning in their building-sized graves. When I step inside I'm immediately greeted with a "What is wrong with you Naomi?"

That's not the first time I've heard that phrase. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's beginning to become a new nickname for me. My boss seemed to appear from the back room the second I walked in the door.

"Sorry Jenna I wasn't-"

"It doesn't matter, go take orders at the drive-thru. We are talking about this later missy!" Jenna states. I don't know why she always wears those fancy clothes to a restaurant like this. She then turns and walks back into the back room. I don't know exactly what she does back there. There can't be much work in managing a fast-food place.

I fucking hate taking orders. It probably shows through my voice as I say the phrase over and over. "Welcome to Fitch Diner, how can I take your order this morning?"

Then I have to deal with actually seeing the families, all on road trips or something. And then the people seemingly off to work at a job that starts this late in the morning. God how I'd like one of those jobs.

Three hours of this and the boredom is beginning to take hold of me. I'm starting to think I should just have an MDMA pill waiting for this part of the day. Not even completely halfway through yet.

Oh, then it's made all the better by Katie, who apparently has her own car. She pulls up to the window and then turns her face to me. I prepare my onslaught of passive-aggressive phrases.

Okay, my mood softens just a little when I realize it's Emily. They do look different, it hard to tell when they're not looking at you though.

"Heard you work here..." Emily says. She's holding up the line, because she hasn't taken her money out yet. She was the one that ordered a small milkshake. Those things aren't even worth the money.

"Yeah, so?" I answer, and for some reason there is annoyance in my voice.

Emily stumbles with her words slightly. "I told her it was me... that I kissed you..." She says. She's clearly apologizing. My expression softens.

"Well... I don't care what your sister thinks." I hear a honk from behind Emily's car, but she doesn't stop looking at me. Her eyes change what she's looking at every so often. She's nervous.

"Yeah well... I do, but thanks anyway..." I glance down at the window-frame of the drive-thru window. "I didn't take MDMA last night..." I hear, I then look at her curiously, though I'm probably also making myself look disgusted. "I just... wanted to kiss you..." Her eyes continuously look from the ground to my eyes and back again. She even seems a little surprised at her next statement.

"I want to kiss you now..." She says, and now my brow is furrowed. Why's everything so fucking complicated. Despite this, my immediate response is a little direct.

"Your gay?" I say. I'm not really asking at all.

She falters. "No... No- I just..." She looks down again before glancing back at me with an uncertain look. "... sorry..."

Why the fuck would she be telling me this? Me? Of all people?

"Yeah... me too." I answer, rudeness clear in my tone. I wanted it to sound rude. What makes her think she just has the right to do that? I turn and grab the arm of a different girl working on a burger, pulling her to the window. "Take over, will you Panda?" Though by the time she's about to answer, I'm already gone.


	5. Chapter 5: And She Closed Her Eyes

Chapter 5: And She Closed Her Eyes

 **Emily**

I stare down at the wheel, hearing another honk behind me. It's uncanny. The same words... same conversation...

The next honk takes me out of my little trance. I quickly press down on the pedal. I find a parking spot, which isn't difficult because barely any people come here. I don't know how my mother keeps it going. I don't think Naomi knows that my mom is her boss. I'd be surprised if she did, she doesn't seem to remember anything else.

When I turn off the car, it takes me some time to even get the motivation to walk in. Lately all I've been wanting to do is sleep. Everything else feels... worthless, only only thing that doesn't is Naomi.

 _I need her._

Which makes it all the more killing to me that we're back to square one. I continue to stare at the wheel. Maybe I don't need to talk to her. If she joins us like Effy says she will.

Yet when I look in the rear view mirror, I see that I've lost my chance. She's getting in a cab. That beautiful girl is getting in a cab, and I can't do anything about it.

I lean my head against the wheel, and I feel tears rolling down my cheeks. I never make sounds anymore when this happens. I've gotten too good at just letting the tears fall for a while. So good that I don't think they even release any stress or sadness anymore.

Katie seems to be freaking out like last time, so I don't want to go back home. I can't go back home. I've also been using Effy's place too much as a safe haven.

Effy doesn't judge people, that's one thing that carried over. She's always letting me stay over for a bit. I'm beginning to think she sees me crying more than she sees me happy. I don't even think she knows why I'm crying, yet she doesn't ask.

She's just... there. I feel like being that safe haven must be killing her, but her eyes don't show what she's thinking.

Before I know it I hear a tap on my car window. I open my eyes just to see how dark the inside of my car has become.

I turn my head and see that it is indeed nighttime, and there are two men in masks standing there.

Standard ski masks, a fairly good choice for a mugging or robbery. I'm not surprised then when I see the barrel of a pistol pressed against my window.

My car is still turned on, I can't imagine how Mum didn't see me when she left.

"Get out then? Noffin too bad, just a car Jackin'." The man with the revolver says through the window. A revolver is actually a fairly bad choice for a weapon, but for all I know it could be unloaded. What matters about a gun in a robbery is the intimidation.

"What did I say mate?" The man with the revolver says again. By the time his sentence has finished I've switched the car into reverse. I press on the gas and both men jump back as I screech backwards towards the fowl diner.

I turn the wheel so I am now aimed directly at them as I hit the brake. 'You better have been bluffing with that gun...' I think before I take it into drive and step on the gas. I hear a screech as the masked men jump out of the light of my headlights, and I smile as I speed past them onto the open road.

The adrenaline.

Naomi and adrenaline is what keeps me going.

I think I can go home now. Normal people would file a report with the police, but my sister, Effy and I aren't normal. Effy plans a place to rob, then we all execute. I wish it were easier to split money three ways.

Effy's whole idea of us robbing a bank isn't as far fetched as Katie has made it out to be. We've been going for higher targets lately. I'm pretty sure Effy only scheduled the convenience store for Naomi.

As I'm making my way to my house, that weighs on me. I could've just driven the last nail into my coffin. Naomi probably doesn't want to see me, let alone rob a convenience store with me watching her back.

I pull into the driveway. I know it's strange that all the Fitch's live together, but our mother offered and me and Katie had both accepted. We'd been living together as twins anyway, what could go wrong?

Well, for one, James Fitch. He's a bit of a cunt. I don't want to talk about it.

Then my mother is all business, works all the time at the diner. I don't understand why though, it would run just fine without her. I think she'd actually trying to make it a proper chain of restaurants. She always says "you have to start with one to get the others."

I swear one day I was this close to asking Effy if we could rob our own diner, just for the fuck of it. But then logic stopped me in my tracks.

I step out of the car and lock it, closing the door and watching the headlights turn off. I then look in the car mirror, making sure my makeup hadn't run. At least I have that going for me.

I take a deep breath and unlock the door, stepping inside. Somehow, it's deadly quiet inside. That either means mum is working late or Katie is "out" again. I have no idea what she's been getting into these days. She sometimes will leave the house in the middle of the night. Sometimes I think she's doing something horrible. She comes home tired.

I don't think she knows that I watch her leave the room. She probably thinks she's being sneaky, even in those high heels.

She does freshen up before she leaves. Perhaps she just has a boyfriend she's not telling us about. It takes a lot of will not to ask her where she's been when she gets back, because she looks terrible. But she still thinks I'm sleeping when she returns. I think she really does believe no one suspects anything.

I step up the stairs, peaking into the living room. Surprisingly, my mother and father have fallen asleep watching a movie. James is probably also sleeping, which just leaves one more Fitch unaccounted for.

And as I step into our room, I realize she's probably going to be unaccounted for for a while longer. She's gone, has taken one of her favorite pairs of high heels.

Even with my day of napping in my car, I already feel tired again. I think it's because I'm actually tired of everything. Everyone.

 _No, not everyone._

I move to my bed and lie on my side, staring at the wall. I then close my eyes. The worst part about all of this is that Naomi seems to be engraved in the back of my eyelids. She's in my dreams, in my nightmares, and behind all my thoughts.

I don't think she knows of the hold she has on me.


End file.
